Ghosts and eerie appearances have long haunted the literary imagination. Variously known as spirits, shades, spectres, phantoms, revenants, and apparitions, the forlorn figure of the ghost is one of literature's most beguiling creations, spanning a long tradition from the classics to the present day. As liminal entities caught between life and death, restless ghosts return to the world of the living demanding justice, revenge, and remembrance, but also craving love, affection, and even their favourite food. At the same time, ghosts are meaningful symbols expressive of our innermost fears and anxieties about death, loss, disease, mortality, and the afterlife, as well as potent signifiers at the intersections of gender, politics, history, and empire. In the module’s first part, students will explore the depiction of ghosts in foundational texts by Homer, Virgil, Boccaccio, Shakespeare, and Oscar Wilde. In the second part, students will explore the representation of ghosts, death, and the afterlife in Latin American tales and films, with a particular focus on the Mexican Day of the Dead and the ghosts of the 'disappeared’ in Argentina.
Private Study: 130
Contact Hours: 20
Total: 150
Main assessment methods:
• Essay 1 (1,500 words) 50%
• Essay 2 (1,500 words) 50%
Reassessment methods:
• 100% Coursework (3,000 words)
The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices.
The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html .
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate awareness of, and ability to, analyse supernatural tropes in a range of global fiction and the political, gender, and ethnic questions these inexplicable events raise;
2 Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the interplay between ideology and the supernatural;
3 Demonstrate a detailed understanding of the development of ghosts in literature, from classical antiquity to the present day;
4 Demonstrate a systematic understanding of theories and methodologies that shaped the conceptualisation of ghosts and the supernatural.
5 Manage their own learning on the topic of ghosts and the supernatural, making critical use of primary sources, secondary sources, and comparative methodologies.
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Demonstrate refined communication skills, including the structuring of an original argument, through the writing of essays which will enable students to write a cogent discussion, developing an independent argument;
2 Demonstrate and improve ability to read closely and critically, and to apply a range of critical terms to texts;
3 Engage critically and systematically with recent criticism.
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